Bloodstream
by Hurlstien
Summary: She knew without a doubt those green eyes would be the death of her – "You were never off the hook. You just traded one noose for another."
1. Have you heard the news?

_01._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

**UPDATE!** New title, Bloodstream [_31.07.15_]  
**UPDATE!** Slight changes to make the story read better. Also, a small insight into Hezā's Kekkei Genkai when Hidan asks what's up with her eyes. [_11.08.15_]

* * *

**Bloodstream**

(_have you heard the news?_ _bad things come in twos_)

The screech of a woman was shrill.

A girl straightened and stilled at the sound, hot breath curling in the air. The hatchet in her gloved hand was stuck in the tree stump between two chucks of cleaved wood. She didn't let go as she turned to stare down at the tavern, with its dark oak slats and red pot tiling, squatting at the bottom of the hill. Surrounded by white fields, smoke was still chugging from the chimney and curling up into the cloudless sky. It didn't look any different… and yet the clenching of her gut told her something was wrong; women didn't scream for nothing around here.

It felt like the world had frozen for a moment as she stilled and listened for anything more. But all she heard was the far off tapping of a woodpecker echo through the trees behind her.

A breeze kicked up and her left coat sleeve flapped ghoulishly as her heart rocked her body. Wrenching her axe from the stump, she descended the hill, boots crunching in the snow as her hand repeatedly squeezed the chopper's handle.

Approaching the back door she'd left ajar on her way out, she slipped through and into the small, stone floored store room. She heard a trembling voice as she climbed the three wooden steps into the private kitchen, her eyes on the door that led into the main tavern. Then a movement caught her eye: to her right across the room, her boss's daughter– _'Anri, yeah?'_ –sat cowering beneath the sink. She was beckoning to her, shaking her head. Don't go in there. Don't look. Don't even _move; _you'll give me _us_, away.

"I haven't s– … –least half an hour, I swea–…"

She turned away from Anri at the strained voice of her boss, Mr Hamada, and her heart bounced around her ribs like a rubber ball.

Slowly, she sidled up to the door separating the kitchen from the bar, and peeked through the crack. For a moment all she could see was blood. Customers lay limp over upturned chairs and broken on the floor like tossed dolls, blood draining down their faces and arms, welling in the dips of their clothes, creating dark, gluey pools. Coloured glass decorated the floor between the bodies, catching stray sun beams and bouncing them into her eyes, telling her it was rude to stare.

Then her gaze fixed on a tall man with white hair just beyond the door. He had on a cloak, patterned with large red clouds, and was stood over her boss with his back to her. Her lips parted. A huge, three bladed scythe was in his fist, and she couldn't help but compare it to her pathetic hatchet.

"Please believe me, I truh– I truly don't know." Hamada's voice was breaking, on the edge of crying. His hands scrambled to press himself back into the wooden slats of the bar, scraping through the broken glass by his thighs.

The man with white hair sighed, but there was a smile in his accented voice as he said: "Sucks for you."

With a wet crunch, the third blade of the scythe had split the man's skull and was being swallowed in his barrel chest.

The girl flinched and fought not to gulp. Her grip on the axe tightened as realisation set in. _'He's a Shinobi…_

_'Leave. I need to l–'_

There was a shift in the air.

_'Chakra!–'_

She spun, swinging the axe. But instead of flesh, it hit what felt like a cement barricade, and was batted out of her hand immediately. The hatchet flew to the right and smacked the wall, before crashing onto a table of pottery. She barely felt herself flinch as she locked eyes with a giant of a man. In his right hand dangled a limp Anri, her trachea crushed in his clutch. Her eyes bulged and her mouth twitched like a beached fish, until it stopped. Neither of them moved for a brief moment. Then he released it; the raw power he'd been holding back. It trembled through the air and throbbed through her bones, paralysing her. She felt violent Goosebumps erupt across her skin beneath her coat. It was… awesome – and not in the good way.

Then, as his chakra seeped into the air, thickening it like an invisible fog, there was a certainty that coiled up and tightened her throat alongside the fear, telling her… that she knew this man.

He dropped the corpse and stepped forwards. His shadow smothered her vision as his green eyes peered at her from under his hood, a dark mask covering the rest of his face. With her neck craned back, she shuffled up into the door and it creaked open as she stumbled through the entryway, the man following her.

"Hey, Kakuzu–"

_'Kakuzu.'_ She flinched when her left shoulder gave a hot tingle.

"– you want me to finish her off too?" there was a smirk in the tone. "I could use another virgin sacrifice."

_'How the …?_

_'Kakuzu; I know this guy._

_'Who cares – how did he know I was a virgin?! An' what the Hell does he mean, sacrifi–'_

But as her mind fought itself, her mouth ran away from her. "K-Kakuzu…" Her throat was swollen with fear and her syllables came out warped.

"Huh? You _know_ her?"

The man– Kakuzu, just blinked and grunted.

"Wait a sec."

She flinched as the second male sidled up behind her and moved around her left side. She shifted away and he laughed, throwing his arm around her neck and yanking her back.

"Fucking finally! You don't know how long we've been searching for your sorry ass, seriously." He jabbed her under the collar as she got a look at his face, but all she registered were his pink eyes. She tensed, not saying anything and the Albino 'hmm-ed'. "Blue-eyed, blonde bitch, missing an arm – left one." He poked the corresponding side, digging hard at her ribs. She hissed, arching away, and didn't miss his smirk. "Fits the description."

Kakuzu bowed his head. "You're right."

"Tch, 'course I'm right." Hidan crowed, then looked back at Hezā. "Hey wass'up with your eyes anyway?"

Unable to take it anymore, the girl spun out of his embrace and backed away from them, the way the man was snickering told her he let her escape his hold. She stopped when she felt her boot step on Hamada's dead hand, pressing in glass. There was silence for a few seconds, then a low groan came from across the room.

The Albino turned his head. "Uh-oh, looks like we got a live one."

"Not for long," said Kakuzu, and he made his way to the groaning. "You get the girl – we need to leave."

"What? But you said I could do a ritual!"

"Don't you feel that?" Kakuzu stopped above the survivor and looked back in disbelief at his partner.

"Feel what?"

"There are chakra signatures headed this way; we've been found out."

"God damn it! I'm already behind this month as it is–"

The girl stopped listening at that point as the white haired Shinobi seemed to run with what he had and spouted off some more. It was faint, but Kakuzu was right; there were chakra signatures headed their way from the direction of a small village just a mile north of the tavern. They'd be there any minute.

_'Whoever they are, they won't be enough.'_ She looked to the door leading back to the kitchen and began to edge towards it. _'They don't stand a chance against these guys. Especially not…' _She glanced at Kakuzu, recalling the first time she'd ever seen his green, green eyes.

"-telling me I take too much time when it's _you_ that drags our asses to every shithole in the–"

She kept her eyes on the back of the Albino's head, his attention focused on grouching at Kakuzu. But when he shifted his weight, she lost her nerve and bolted. She flew past Anri's body and was at the back storeroom exit in a second. But as she yanked on the handle, a hand slammed the door shut again.

"Hoh – you're a fast one." The Albino was beside her, far too close for comfort, and smiling a sinister smile. "Ain'cha? _He-zā_."

The way he leaned in and said the 'Z' of her name, it was like a wasp buzzing in her ear. She felt the urge to swat it away as a prickly sensation shivered through her. But slapping this man didn't seem like a good idea – she eyed the crimson blades that swept out from behind his back.

The chakra flares were almost upon them and he gripped her arm, fingertips digging in as he looked over his shoulder. "Oi, Kakuzu – there's three of 'em. Hurry up and take the kid, will ya? I wanna have some fun."

_'Kid?'_

"You keep her." Kakuzu entered the kitchen. "I don't want to waste any more time with your drawn out rituals; we're late as it is. I'll take care of the interference."

"What? Forget that, I wanna rip these bastards limb from limb an–"

"Like you haven't done enough of that already."

"Che! You know as well as I do this place was pathetic." He yanked Hezā's arm about, bruising her skin.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "Do not test me, Hidan. I'm not in the mood for your bellyaching."

"You never are, you old fart."

Hezā barely had time to wonder what was going on before she was pulled out into the sunlight. It blinded her, and the sudden cold air burned her lungs as she staggered after the Albino. At the clang of metal she snapped her head to the right see Hidan's scythe block a kunai – it bounced off the weapon, flipping furiously to bury itself in the snow to her left. Between the red blades she spotted three figures running toward them though the white fields, weapons at the ready.

The grip on her arm disappeared and she stumbled out of the way of Kakuzu as he exited the tavern. There was a shout and a cackle but she didn't stick around to watch; noting that both men had jumped into the fight, she ran for the kunai sticking out of the snow. Diving into the frost, she rolled, grabbed the knife, and was on her feet before bolting up the hill for the cover of the trees, snow clinging to the back of her cloak.

As she ran, thoughts blasted through her head like freight trains, crashing and exploding into more confusion. _'What's he doing turning up after all this ti–what could they possibly want with me? It's been seven years sinc–that Hidan guy, I don't remember hi–just, what the FUCK?'_

And beneath it all, her fear bubbled furiously, heated and fuelled by the thumping of her heart as she realised the only reason they had to track her down was to kill her.

She leapt into the boughs of the trees and sped on, trying to put as much distance between herself and those people as possible.

Minutes dragged into hours as she travelled, all the while she felt the horrid, prickly sensation that the two men were right behind her. She kept checking over her shoulder, unable to help it, but she never saw a thing. Snow crunched under her boots and fell from the branches as she landed and pushed off again, and all too often did her foot minutely slip and send her heart into frenzy. Fighting a yelp and a curse each time, she would refine her chakra control and keep going. It had been too long since she'd done this.

The sky was darkening when the cold grey face of a cliff broke through the forest, and Hezā slowed her advance until she stopped in the last tree. The branch bobbed slowly from her weight and snow fell from the sides as she fought for breath.

"Shit," she gasped, staring up at the rock hardened with frost. To her right, the ground rose to the west, and to her left it sank to the east, leading toward a small village she knew of.

In her hand the kunai was warm and sweaty. She looked over her shoulder again, half expecting to see that crazed Albino's face coming at her, scythe at the ready, but he didn't. There was no one there. The forest of tall, leafless birches was eerily quiet and dark, and between breaths, she whispered: "Did I lose 'em?"

She swept her gaze back and forth through the shadows and frozen poles, before dropping down into the snow below.

She chose to go left toward the village and jogged along the cliff base, hoping to find some form of shelter before night fell completely. But when she found a cave suitable, she skidded to an ungraceful halt, because sat there, poking at a fresh fire with a stick was Kakuzu.

She froze as a wave of dread hit her. Then her throat began to try and articulate sounds without her consent. "How di… wheh- you wuh… her-…" But she shut up when Kakuzu's eyes tightened at her warbling.

He was sat on a rock, the small fire licking the air at his feet as he dropped the stick and rested his forearms on his thighs. Even when he wasn't meaning to be, he was still threatening. He didn't say anything, just watched her with a calculating gaze, the patterned cloak he wore only serving to make him seem bigger. She knew he didn't miss the kunai still in her grip. She had no doubt that if she were to turn and run now, she wouldn't make it two feet.

"It's about time you showed up." Hezā jumped at the sound of Hidan's voice. She looked over her shoulder to watch the man pass her with a small heap of firewood in his arms.

"That won't be enough," Kakuzu said, not taking his eyes off of her.

"You try finding firewood in the snow," Hidan snapped as he dumped his load at the side of the cave. "Ungrateful bastard."

Hezā could do nothing but blink and stare as caution crackled through her skin. "How… jus' how the Hell did you...?"

"Find you?" Hidan supplied. A smirk twitched at his lips. "Well now, it wasn't that hard; you didn't exactly hide your footprints, you know."

She pursed her lips. "Then what about gettin' here before me."

"We were faster," Kakuzu said. "It would make sense for you to go east once you hit the cliff in order to travel quickly, conserve energy going downhill, and increase your chances of finding shelter and water. Not only that, but with your inexperience–"

_'Inexperience?'_

"–the thought of staying out in the open, trying to hide from and outrun us, scared you; so you headed east, toward Tetsumura."

_'How the…?'_ But then she remembered; she knew this man, and he knew her, of course he would recall her capabilities as a ninja. And now that she thought on it, she remembered he had a great many years of experience on his side. It wasn't too farfetched for him to be able to predict her movements.

"I'm not inexperienced… just a lil' rusty."

"You failed to disguise your chakra," he said, "and sense ours." She felt her cheeks flare at that.

Watching them both carefully, Hezā swallowed. "Jus' what is it you want with me?" Neither man said anything. Hidan didn't even seem to be paying attention as he sorted through the firewood he'd collected and threw some onto the flames. Her mouth grew dry and she felt her palm twitch against the kunai as she asked: "… Are you here to kill me?"

Hidan scoffed. "I wish."

And though his comment didn't sound great, Hezā relaxed a little.

"Our leader wishes to speak with you," Kakuzu said.

_'Our leader…'_ She swallowed again as a name danced on the tip of her tongue. She shifted her weight and didn't fail to miss the quick turn of Hidan's head when she did. "What about?"

"Orochimaru."

Her heart went cold. "I don't want anythin' to do with that bastard." She took a step away, boot crunching in the snow.

"You _will_ come with us." Kakuzu's eyes flashed, and in the light of the fire they appeared a smouldering gold. Hidan's gaze was suddenly sharp. His hand twitched, ready to reach for the handle of his scythe that reared up from his right shoulder. Hezā's pupils dilated and contracted, taking all these little details in, and even though what they showed her spelled DANGER, her heart pumped with a fever, wishing to leave immediately.

But something coiled around her ankle and, looking down, her heart flipped at the sight of a thin grey wire wrapping around her boot. She tracked it back to Kakuzu's feet where it stemmed from within his cloak's baggy sleeve.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. "You don't have a choice."

Hidan sneered and removed his scythe, placing it on the ground by his side as he settled by the fire. He patted the ground beside him, then, in a friendly voice, said: "Come on in, sit down; it's pretty cold out there." But his hard eyes and smirk didn't match the pleasant tone. She knew her predicament.

Taking a steady breath, Hezā entered the cave. The vine around her ankle slithered back to its owner as pebbles, pine needles and cracked seed husks crunched beneath her boots. The ground was cold as she sat down opposite Hidan, feeling his pink eyes on her over the pitiful flames between them. His off white hair was dyed a warm yellow-orange in the light of the fire, and the silver necklace hanging around his neck twinkled as it shifted against his chest from within his cloak.

Kakuzu lifted an arm and more threads slipped out from his sleeve, collecting the remaining firewood and placing it on the dying cinders. The clouds on his cloak rippled as he moved, and Hezā watched them. "You are Akatsuki."

"Nothing escapes you, huh?" Hidan said as he picked at his teeth.

She gave him a sideways sour look which he missed, before looking back at Kakuzu. Her heart shuddered when his gaze clenched hers.

"You remember me," he said.

"Yeah… I have tried, but it's pretty hard to forget the person who tore off your arm."

* * *

So here it is; the re-vamped version of my old story The Subordinate, now dubbed Bloodstream.  
This new version will follow the old plot quite closely, only I'll be going about it a little differently.  
I decided to re-do this because I was inspired by a couple of stories (_Die Another Day by Delgodess and The Price of Living by LovelyWeather_) to do a better job with Hidan and Kakuzu.

_Thank you for reading!_


	2. With enemies like these

_02._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream _© **Hurlstien**

**UPDATE!** Made some minor adjustments to the language [_11.08.15_]

* * *

(_with enemies like these, who needs friends?_)

Hidan froze in his teeth picking, a funny look on his face as he glanced at Kakuzu. "Seriously?" He sounded far too happy at that– "Shit, that's hilarious!" –and proceeded to laugh. Hezā looked down at the fire as she felt her cheeks flush. But Hidan's laughter ceased when a low rumble growled through the cave. He put a hand on his stomach and looked at Kakuzu. "Hey pal, got any food left?"

"No."

"… You're kidding, right?"

"We'll make do until we reach Tetsumura," Kakuzu said, "We'll arrive there tomorrow evening."

"Fucks sake… what about you?" he looked at Hezā. "Got anything?" He expected her to have food with her, after all that had happened? Hezā didn't know what to say. Hidan scowled. "You two are fucking useless."

"Instead of bellyaching, why don't you do something worthwhile?" Kakuzu said.

"Pfft," Hidan squinted at his partner and said dubiously: "Like what?"

"We need more fuel."

Hidan looked about ready to argue again, but then he glanced down at the dying embers flailing in the cold and sighed. "Fine," he pointed at Hezā as he stood up. "You're coming with me." The girl didn't argue. She followed the Albino out into the snow and trailed behind him. A few minutes passed and he stopped, gesturing out at the dark forest and looking back at Hezā. "Alright, go get some wood – and make sure it's dry enough to burn, will ya?"

She resisted a scowl as he sighed and leaned back against a trunk, arms crossed. He looked tired, not that she cared. So far Hidan seemed to be the very epitome of 'don't give a fuck' – a trait she shared to a degree, but resented in others, as was her hypocritical self – but there was something else they had in common…

"That accent – you're from Hot Springs Country, ain'cha?" she said as she knelt to pick at some dry sticks near the base of a tree. She'd noticed it as soon as she'd heard his voice. His accent surely wasn't as strong as hers, but he still had a slight lazy drawl. "–Same here."

"Yeah," Hidan didn't sound the least bit interested. "I can tell you're from one of those rural shit-tip places."

Her lips pursed at that as she continued her task.

"So what's all this about Kakuzu-chan ripping your arm off?" he asked.

She could hear the smile in his voice again, and her frown turned sourer. "I pissed him off, an' he jus'… went crazy." Hezā said as she slipped her arm through the branches of a fir tree to find the dry wood sheltered close to the trunk. "I remember followin' him an' askin' him why he wore the mask, but after that it gets all blurry."

Hidan laughed. "You're a fucking idiot."

She looked at him. "I was eleven at the time– I didn't know what Hell I was doin'."

The man continued to grin as he watched her. "So how did you get outta that one?"

"… Orochimaru saved me," she said, "'F'it weren't for him I'd be dead." Getting those words out was like trying to swallow poisoned sand, rough and acidic on her tongue.

Hidan gave a lazy groan. "I heard about that guy, you were his pet, right?"

"I wasn't his _pet_," she said, "… I was an experiment."

"Experiment, huh."

"… Don't matter."

"Che."

Hezā returned to hunting down firewood, placing what she'd already gathered in a small pile, as Hidan stared up at the darkening sky through the branches. Minutes passed until she felt she'd gathered enough to see them through the night. But turning and walking back to her pile, she found Hidan gone. The space where he'd been leaning against the tree was empty, footprints still imprinted deep into the snow with no fresh ones to be seen. It was as though he'd simply popped out of existence.

'_If only…'_ Hezā thought as she scanned the trunks around her. If he was gone she could make a break for it.

She opened her mouth, breath curling in the cold. "Hidan?"

There was no answer.

She turned, ready to bolt. But an odd flapping of cloth stopped her. The beginnings of a scream escaped her throat when something dark and bulky fell into the snow from the branches above. She jumped half a step back. The body of a man lay sprawled before her, blood leaking out from beneath his head and melting the snow. She heard Hidan's boisterous laugh from above and watched him leap down and land beside his twitching victim.

"Jumpy, are we?" He grinned as he swiped blood from his cheek then licked it from his finger. He looked down at the almost-corpse. "About time he slipped up; this guy's been following us since the beginning."

"The beginning?" Hezā asked while she watched blood bubble up from the spy's mouth like boiling crimson tar. It dribbled down his cheeks and into his ears as her eyes skimmed the body, spotting a tattoo of a crescent moon on the back of the right hand.

Hidan scratched his head. "Eh, couple of days before we got orders to find you," he said, then turned to leave. Hezā stayed put, listening to the spy's dying sputters and wet chokes punctuate the silence. "Hurry up, would ya?" Hidan called. "I'm tired, I'm cold _and_ I'm hungry – the faster I get to sleep, the faster tomorrow comes, the faster I get fed."

'_The faster you'll shut up,'_ Hezā thought, but kept quiet and hurried after him. She had a feeling that for however long she was going to be with Hidan, his moaning would be something she'd have to get used to.

The two of them continued back to the cave in silence. But when they emerged through the cold pole trunks to find Kakuzu still sat, reading a book, Hidan spread his arms wide and said: "You can kiss my ass whenever you're ready, Kakuzu."

The man looked up from his book with the most dead-pan stare Hezā thought she'd ever seen.

"I just caught our tail." Hidan said, looking chuffed with himself.

Kakuzu grunted and returned to his reading. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

Hidan scoffed and walked over to his original spot by the fire. "Well to be honest I would've thought you'd be more pleased than that, I mean, c'mon, he was a pretty slippery guy – eluded you for a good two weeks, right?"

Kakuzu didn't reply, but neither Hezā nor Hidan failed to notice the minute tightening of his grip on the book in his hand. She'd only been with these guys for just under an hour and already her old practised vigilance was returning to her. Small sounds were becoming louder and the details around her were sharper. It was like being on a constant adrenaline rush – at least, it would be until she got used to it again. The popping of the fire was sharp in the silence, and the scent of the cave and men she shared it with was almost overpowering. It seemed her Shinobi skills had never really left her; they'd just been repeatedly glossed over with coats of fear and regret, hardening like layered sediment by years of disuse. But now that covering was being scratched and chipped away, forcefully unearthed, and they surprised her with their sharpness, like biting into a lemon.

She sat down in her original spot to Kakuzu's left, and chucked a few twigs onto the dying fire. When she looked up she found Hidan pressing his pedant to his lips and murmuring to himself. She watched him, taking comfort in the warmth of the flames, and found his soft mutters oddly relaxing.

The events of the day had caught up with her and her lids drooped a few times, before she realised Hidan was looking straight at her. "What?" he growled.

Startled, Hezā shook her head, "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes as the girl looked down, then returned to his mumblings. Hezā glanced at Kakuzu, who was still reading, before holding back a sigh and slowly easing herself onto her side. She shifted until she was halfway comfortable, pulling her cloak sleeve down and closing her eyes to sleep.

* * *

The village of Tetsumura was a small settlement perched on the eastern mountainous border of the Rain Country, surrounded by a creaky wooden fence and layered with a thin sheet of snow. A slushy mud road ran through the middle, with smaller side streets branching off leading to quivering shacks and lean-tos. Two small farms flanked the town, while every other building appeared to be a house, each in varying states of disrepute.

In silence Kakuzu led them through the streets, muddy slush splashing up and running in-between the Akatsuki's toes as they walked. The few people dotting the roads watched them in silence as they passed, somehow knowing there was nothing right with the two men in the red patterned cloaks. Like a sixth sense they could feel it; danger, destruction, death.

Kakuzu took no notice of the gawping villagers, and headed for what was likely the only inn in the village. Inside he ordered a double room and three basic meals to be delivered within the hour, informing Hezā she would be sleeping on the floor with the spare bedding.

The room itself was pathetically ill-looking with its flimsy curtains and two thin futons. A single wardrobe stood in the corner appearing miserable with one of its sliding doors broken off and leaning against its side, while the bathroom wasn't much better with grime on the mirror and rust around the toilet.

Hezā stared around with a grand mixture of disbelief, disgust and disappointment, and wondered if, even with her meagre funds, she'd ever stayed in a place quite like this. Hidan on the other hand removed his scythe and flopped onto his futon, a thin cloud of dust erupting from it as though it had just coughed.

"You've outdone yourself this time, Kakuzu," Hidan said, "I never thought I'd be sleeping in a _shed_."

Kakuzu didn't say anything as he entered the room and took off his coat. He folded it neatly beside his futon, then moved over to the window to observe the street below.

Hezā glanced at them, noting how normal they seemed now they were contained within a room. Like wolves in sheep's clothing. "How did you guys find me?" she asked. She'd stayed silent all day, not feeling a need or want to interact with the two criminals – a feeling that appeared to be mutual.

Hidan grunted. "We hunt bounties for a living – tracking down your sorry ass was cake walk in comparison," he said, then sat up with a smirk as Hezā found the spare bedding at the bottom of the wardrobe and pulled it out. "But about a week ago we were in some backwater village and there was talk of a girl who turned into a monster in broad daylight – almost killed someone too, as I recall."

Hezā frowned, wrinkling her nose at the mouldy smell of the duvet as she kicked it roughly into place. "Tha's kinda odd… don't y'think?"

"Mm." He lost his smirk, but kept his lazy purple gaze on her. She felt it and looked up from her bedding. The way she breathed, her gaze, her stance and her scent confirmed everything he already knew.

A hand on the back of Hezā's neck startled her as it shoved her head forwards while warm fingers yanked down the collar of her cloak.

"What's odd is you thinking you could fool us." Kakuzu's voice came from above her as he observed a Curse Mark scarring the skin of her right shoulder.

He pushed her away and she stumbled, pulling at her collar to hide the marking. She dropped her gaze.

Hidan scoffed. "An' here I thought that bastard only picked people with potential."

"What happened?" asked Kakuzu. But Hezā heard no concern in his voice.

She stayed silent for a moment.

She remembered it being busy and hot. Then she recalled feeling the chakra of the Sound Four's Tayuya, and that's when things got bad. Being close enough to feel Orochimaru's chakra running through another was enough to make her self-control slip and she'd turned right there in the street. People screamed as she'd launched herself at an innocent bystander, busting ribs, rupturing organs and dislodging his jaw before managing to stop and flee.

She shrugged and finally looked Kakuzu in the eye. "I jus' lost control… that's all."

No one spoke for a moment, then Hidan scoffed. "Well don't expect any mercy if you lose your shit with us, kid."

* * *

(_abandon hope all ye who enter here_)

Rain poured from the sky in sheets as they approached the gates of Amegakure. Cold stone pillars, chipped and war-torn reared up either side of them as their feet slopped through the last of the boggy marshes and onto solid wet concrete. Each building blended into the next in differing shades of drab grey and not a soul was in sight.

The trio remained quiet as they navigated through the puddled streets and up narrow stairways, the wet smacks of their steps mixing with the drizzle. Hezā's feet ached and she could feel the exhaustion pulling down on her lids, but still, she couldn't help but get a sense of loneliness as she followed Hidan and Kakuzu. This place just seemed so… forgotten. But just as she thought it, a flash of white caught her eye through the rain. Hanging beneath an overhang was what appeared to be a paper angel. It looked so odd dangling there, but like a candle in a dark room it drew the eye. She'd seen one before, a lifetime ago.

"_It's about time you showed."_

The voice was calm, male and lacked a spine. But when Hezā turned to look, she took a step back at the sight of a black and white man encased in a large Venus Flytrap. His eyes were unfocused and dull gold, and his hair matched the green of his leaves. He was dressed in the same cloak as Hidan and Kakuzu and nothing else, but unlike herself, this man did not seem bothered by the rain one bit. He was stood with his shoulders slightly stooped on the other side of the wide street, and despite the distance, the girl could sense something odd about him. Something unnerving in the curl of his lips and how his eyes didn't blink.

"_The Leader's been getting impatient,"_ he said.

"The Leader can go fuck himself," said Hidan.

Kakuzu didn't say anything, and instead turned to carry on walking toward the tall building at the end of the street. Hidan scoffed and followed. And Hezā too, turned on her heel to trudge after them. As she walked she felt the gaze of the plant man as his eyes glowed after her like she were a piece of meat, while a name she'd known all along surfaced in her thoughts, and swam around and around in her head.

_Pein_.


	3. Then you shall see

_03._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream _© **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_then you shall see those souls who are content to dwell in fire…_)

Walking the corridor to Pein's office felt like a funeral procession. The door, a coffin lid. A death sentence. It was nothing special in comparison to the man himself, but it still held power over Hezā. She feared the man on the other side. She feared what he had planned for Orochimaru, because whatever it was, she was now a part of it – and she feared the fuck out of Orochimaru.

There was no chance in Hell of this ending well.

Kakuzu entered the room first after knocking, and she followed Hidan inside.

The room was dim, hiding away crevices filled with secrets. There was a bookcase to the left stuffed with scrolls and documents, rolls of parchment and empty ink pots with used brushes still inside them, crusted and hard with black liquid. A sealing scroll hung open on the wall, scrawled with words and symbols Hezā couldn't read, along with a lopsided landscape picture of what could be identified as Amegakure.

Pein was stood behind his desk, his back to them as he gazed out of a large eye shaped window and out onto a sky clotted with clouds. And when he turned, Hezā was struck to find he hadn't aged a day. His smooth skin was still that odd chalky white, hinting at a grey, so much so that he looked ill. His face was stuck in its twenties and his eyes shone like freshly cut pyrite. The rings around his pupils pulsed as he acknowledged both Hidan and Kakuzu, then his gaze fell on Hezā as she moved to stand in the gap between them. Like a mouse between two mountains. She swallowed.

"It's good to see you've made it back," he said, "… with the objective alive." He glanced at Hezā again while Hidan made a disgruntled noise. "But now is not the time for praise; the next part of your assignment remains to be completed." Pein looked down at a scroll lying in the centre of his otherwise bare desk, and Kakuzu stepped forward to retrieve and open it. "As you know, according to Zetsu's recon, Orochimaru is thought to be in possession of the Gobi," said Pein, "It is your mission to retrieve it by any means necessary."

"Are you seriously sending us for this?" Hidan asked, and Pein's eye twitched the slightest bit. "Sneaking and spying ain't my thing."

Pein regarded Hidan with eyes of stone. "I chose yourself and Kakuzu for your resilience and adaptability, Hidan… If you think one of the other teams would be more capable, do say so."

Hidan wrinkled his face, looked a little uncomfortable for a second, then gave a humph. Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"It's settled then."

Kakuzu closed the scroll and nodded, while Hidan scowled and muttered under his breath. Hezā was waiting for the 'any questions' bit to come up, but it didn't. And when she sensed Hidan and Kakuzu about to leave, she lifted her hand like a nervous school girl and made a timid 'umm' sound. Pein's ringed eyes fell on her and she felt ten times smaller than she already was.

"What… well, what am I doing here?"

He stared at her for a moment. "You have an understanding of Orochimaru's lairs," –_'But, theys all different'_ she thought– "And you know the Sumitsuki, a sealing technique not many are aware of," Pein said, "According to Zetsu, the Gobi is restrained with this. Your only job for this mission is to break the seal."

Oh… When was the last time she'd performed that technique?

Her confusion and nerves must have shown on her face because, looking faintly like he'd swallowed a midge, Pein asked, "You do remember the Sumitsuki?" It barely sounded like a question, more of a threat, that if she didn't nod and say 'yes sir' she probably wouldn't be breathing for much longer. To make matters worse she could feel Hidan and Kakuzu's eyes on her too, like leaden balls pulling down on her heart, ready to sink it once it exploded from the pressure.

After a few seconds of terse silence, she nodded a little too quickly and said, "Of course." And as she did, hand signs flickered through her mind's eye in no particular order. She would have to practise.

"Good." Pein took a quick glance at Kakuzu, something Hezā couldn't quite read in his eyes, before he turned back to the window. "By all means, take a day to rest and prepare as you see fit, you may leave when you are ready."

At that, Hidan turned for the door followed by Hezā.

"And Kakuzu…" The man glanced back at the leader of the Akatsuki, who lowered his voice. "Once the mission is complete, you know what to do with her."

Kakuzu nodded, and exited the room.

* * *

The library was still. Glimpses of sunset had broken through the clouds and were drifting in through the window.

_(Come on Hezā-chan!)_

"Wait for me…" Hezā opened her eyes, surprised at the words she'd murmured. She'd been half asleep, drifting off into fogs of memory, chasing Kemushi. It had been warm and they had been nine, possibly ten. She couldn't remember… Kemushi had always been a fast runner. Tall and willowy, with legs like twigs. Always challenging Hezā to catch her, and Hezā never could.

Her elbow ached from being propped up on the table and she slowly sat up and stretched out her arm, curling her fingers and feeling the blood rush. Dust motes danced a dozy step while the shelves creaked as the temperature slowly dropped in the waning light of the afternoon. She'd found it after searching around the base, desperate for some extra knowledge on seals to help her recall the sequence of the Sumitsuki. But so far, sat at a table with a small mountain of scrolls and books piled atop it, she wasn't having much luck. It didn't help that after her little chat with Pein, her mood was even lower than it had been before she arrived in Ame.

The impending sense of doom was building.

"You're still alive."

Hezā's head shot up at the voice to see a redhead stood in the doorway.

"Sasori-sama!" she abruptly stood, chair scraping back. She winced, Sasori's expression didn't change.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

She paused for a second, the shock of seeing him still sharp. "Pein wants me for a mission," she said, "He needed someone who knew the Sumitsuki, so…" Hezā trailed off as she took the man in. He, as Pein, had not aged a day – although, this time she knew why. Being Orochimaru's partner, Sasori had inevitably met and spent time with Hezā and Kemushi years ago when they lived at the Akatsuki's old headquarters in River country. "I was jus' tryin' t' jog my memory."

"Is that so…" Sasori entered the room and made his way to one of the bookcases, tracing a finger over the thick leather spines as his glossy eyes searched. "You learnt to read?"

She made a sound in her throat and looked at the books and scrolls in front of her. "I was hopin' theys'd have pictures…"

The man just 'hmm-ed' and pulled out a book from the shelf. A thin fountain of dust spilled out after it. "Where's the arm?" he asked as he leafed through the pages.

Hezā's heart sunk. "Orochimaru's got it." She felt him look at her through the gloom. "He sent me on a… on a mission I wasn't meant t' return from. Three years ago now, s'far as I know he thinks I'm dead."

Sasori had now returned to flicking through the book. No stranger to the Sannin's cruelty, and comfortable in his own twisted work, the information did not shock him. But it was perplexing that a man he despised had a hold of something he'd helped make. The mechanical arm that should be attached to Hezā's left shoulder in place of the one Kakuzu destroyed was a masterpiece he'd had a hand in designing – the sole reason for his interest.

Wanting to brighten the mood, Hezā asked, "Have you been well–"

"Your eyes have gotten worse."

Hezā pursed her lips. Not many people noticed the small flecks of crimson running through her ice blue iris', but Sasori had been the one to spot the anomaly when it first started almost ten years ago. After numerous tests he'd decided it was a result of her Kekkei Genkai stripping away the melanin in her cells, causing her eyes to turn red, and her hair and skin to gradually become paler.

"How did Pein know you were still breathing?" asked Sasori as he put back the book and took out another.

Images, strong like a bitter lemon on her tongue, flushed her mind. Green eyes. She blinked hard, head twitching to the side. "Err… I'm not sure."

She felt Sasori's molten gaze harden on her, and she tensed. He could read her like a book… but he let her fib slide. Instead, he walked over to her and dropped the book he'd been flicking through open on the table.

"You can't read, but you may find the diagrams helpful." He said, before turning to leave. And once again, Hezā was alone.

She stared down at the yellowing pages and fading pictures, flopped back into her seat and sighed. Even after seeing Sasori again, a man she respected deeply growing up, her heart still felt lower than an ocean trench. She didn't even know why; she should be happy that she was finally getting a chance to do what she'd promised she'd do years ago. That she could now track down Orochimaru and take back both her arm and her old friend. She'd always known she was too weak to put her promise into action, always telling herself that she'd get stronger and then try. But the thought of seeing that man again had weighed on her mind over the years and beaten back the desire to complete her promise… In fact, it was still there now, hanging over her like a shadow, sowing the seeds of doubt.

'_Kem-chan.'_ Hezā sighed again.

So caught up in her thoughts was she, that she didn't notice Kakuzu stood in the doorway. So when he appeared by her side, cloak-less and irritable, she almost jumped out of her seat. The man rolled his eyes. With her heart thumping, Hezā couldn't help but be hyperaware of his musculature – the dim light from the window only serving to highlight the definition.

"Here." He said, shoving a fistful of money onto the table. "You'll need appropriate clothing for this mission. Do _not_ waste it." He held her gaze for a moment with his hard green one, "I expect to be repaid," then left.

* * *

Perhaps their coming for her was a blessing in disguise?

The thought crossed Hezā's mind as she dumped all her old clothes into an empty oil drum. She was stood beneath the enormous overhang of a building held up by thick concrete pillars. More oil drums and bins lined the wall to her right while the rain hammered the street outside. Hezā had done as Kakuzu ordered and bought herself some travel worthy clothes, a set of which she now wore; a pair of ninja sandals in charcoal grey, black skin tight half lengths, a deep red tank top and black travel cloak complete with hood. The rest of her new wardrobe didn't differ much from this, and was currently sealed away in the scroll tucked into her equally new hip pouch.

Perhaps this was the start of a new life for her.

She took out a box of matches and struck one. Light flared and hissed at her fingertips and she watched it for a second before dropping the little stick into the drum. The flame caught on the fabric of her worn shirt and quickly began to gorge itself, growing hot and fat.

She'd been putting it off for far too long. It was time to do something. And now with Hidan and Kakuzu as backup, perhaps she could. Taking a kunai from her weapons pouch, she gathered her hair at the nape of her neck and with one quick slice, cut through it. The locks in her fist were a darkening blonde, damp from the rain and faintly bending with natural waves. She held them above the fire and let them go.

In the shadows Zetsu's golden eyes watched.

"Nice haircut."

Hezā turned to see Hidan walking toward her – minus scythe, she noted and relaxed a little. She smiled and rubbed a hand through her short chops. "Thanks!"

He gave her a look. "You don't get sarcasm do you?" Hezā looked mildly affronted before he spoke again. "What the Hell're ya doin' anyway?" His hair was wet from the rain and the part of his chest that she could see glistened, his cloak soaked through.

"Uh," she glanced back to the roaring oil drum, and thin chimney of black smoke rolling up from it.

Hidan rolled his eyes. "You know what? Forget it. I was told to bring ya back; you been gone too long."

He turned and began to head back, muttering about babysitting and crazy women. Hezā hesitated, glanced back at the burning clothes, then hurried after Hidan, out into the pouring rain.

* * *

**A/N** If you're wondering why Hezā sometimes has misspelt words in her speech, it's because she isn't very well educated when it comes to language and reading.


	4. Do unto others

_04._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_do unto others as you would have others do unto you_)

"_For a hard-ass, you sure do bitch a lot."_

Never before had Hezā regretted saying something so badly.

Rain poured on the pair of them. Mud splashed up as she stumbled beneath another swing of the scythe. And Hidan's backhanded fist came out of nowhere, hitting her cheek so hard she was sure her molars would come out. Blood sprayed from her mouth. A leg lashed out in a vicious roundhouse, catching her in the chest and propelling her backwards. Tears in her eyes, she fell to the floor, dazed and weak and winded.

Never before had she felt this far out of her depth.

She didn't know which way was up as she lay on her back in the mud, gasping for air. The clouds came in and out of focus and didn't seem to want to stop spinning. She groaned, body rolling onto its side, trying to get away from the pain.

Hidan was fast. It was like man and scythe were one whenever he moved. So fluid was his movement that she didn't even know he'd struck when a hot deep streak blazed through her cheek.

She held her hand to her face, fingertips finding blood and her heart throbbed. Hidan hauled his scythe back to his side, and with a wink, licked her blood from the blade. Short hair plastered to her skull, she crawled back, bloodied hand slipping in the mud. Wondering where Kakuzu was and why he wasn't stopping this. But she stilled when Hidan's skin began to shift and mould to a different colour. Like body paint, his appearance began to resemble something out of a nightmare. Bone white markings against an inky black hide.

His eyes gleamed mad and electric as he chuckled. "Not so tough now are ya?" He took a metal rod out of his cloak, unfolding it in his hand to a sharp point, pointing at her. "You're lucky; not everyone gets to witness Lord Jashin's work first hand."

'_Wha's he talking 'bout?'_ Hezā couldn't understand what was happening; only that Hidan was flat out crazy and Kakuzu was doing squat about it. Unbeknownst to her, the man was stood off to the side, doing and saying nothing. Green eyes watching Hidan, waiting.

Bloodlust rolled off the albino in waves, carrying with them the strength and volume of his Chakra. The trees keened and the wind picked up, raindrops lashing through the air. Hezā's skin crawled, but she remained still, teeth clenched and aching from where she'd been hit.

But before Hidan could raise the pike, he stopped. The wind died and he fell flat on his back.

The clearing grew quiet, Hezā simply watching Hidan for movement. Then, slowly, she pushed herself to a stand.

"I'd almost forgotten you had a Kekkei Genkai." Kakuzu's mused words made her jump and she turned to see him step out from a rim of trees to her right. The man stared down at his partner's unfocused gaze. "Did you know this was what would happen?"

She shook her head and swallowed. "The effects is random."

Kakuzu toed Hidan's side. "How long will the paralysis last?"

Hezā shook her head again, wiping her bloodied hand on her pants leg. "I… I-I d'know." She felt like crying. Hidan was going to kill her. As soon he recovered he'd remember what she'd done to him. All she'd achieved was a prolonged death.

He grunted and took out a map from his cloak. "In case you're unsure, I'd keep that tongue of yours under control in future."

Hezā nodded, numb from the near-death experience. She'd had a couple before, years ago when she could still proudly call herself a Shinobi. Now she wasn't so sure she deserved that name. Her heart was still pounding, her mouth still dry, throat scratchy. She swallowed.

They made camp in a small circle of trees that evening after the rain stopped, decided when Kakuzu dropped Hidan's leg after dragging him along like a corpse. Not one to waste idle hands, the man had her collecting firewood and tinder with clear orders to stay in sight. She did as was bid, while thoughts of escape streamed through her head. After the fight with Hidan, she was even more scared than she had been before. Would these men keep their word? Would they be able to refrain from killing her for their mission's sake? Would Hidan forgive her once the effects of her blood were finally out of his system? Hezā thought not, and suddenly the temptation to run was overpowering. She knew her chances of reaching Orochimaru and rescuing Kemushi were slim if she were to leave, but her chances of survival increased tenfold without the two Akatsuki as travelling companions.

She couldn't believe she'd thought this could've been a new life for her. What a fucking idiot.

She returned to the clearing and dumped the sticks she'd collected. Kakuzu was sat with his back against a tree, his eyes closed. She watched him, wondering if he was asleep, but the strong pulses of his chakra told her otherwise. Kneeling down and arranging the tinder together in a pile, she paused. She didn't know where to start. Grabbing a stick she tried to do what she'd seen Orochimaru do once, back in the distant fogs of her memory. She placed one end on top of the tinder and began to twist it between her fingers. Nothing was happening, and the sky was growing darker.

"You'll never get it going like that," Kakuzu was sitting up now, and staring at her.

"I never built a fire before."

"I can tell… Do you know any fire jutsu?" She shook her head. Kakuzu moved closer to the tinder pile, pulled down his mask and weaved three hand-signs. He breathed in then gently blew fire down onto the dead leaves and dry bark. Hezā saw scarred dry lips and stitches running through his cheeks and she remembered the reason why she didn't have a left arm any more. The tinder caught and Kakuzu slipped his mask back on to the bridge of his nose. "Now put on some wood. Not too much; you'll suffocate the fire."

They ate a small dinner of dry bread and berries washed down with water. Not liking fruit, Hezā gave her berries to Kakuzu who took them with no complaint. Hidan was still paralytic by the time they settled down for the night, the chemicals mutated in Hezā's blood hard at work keeping his nerves shut down. The sky was still overcast and a breeze tousled the leaves. Her left cheek throbbed, a violent purple bruise flowering over pale skin caked in dried blood from the deep cut running under her left eye to almost touching her corresponding ear tab. It resembled a tall thin 'S' on its back the way it curved sickeningly through her soft flesh. Mud clotted her hair and smudged her face, hand, feet and clothes. She'd never wanted a shower so desperately.

Getting to sleep became like catching smoke with her hand; Hidan was going to wake up and kill her. She knew it. She couldn't stop replaying the fight in her head. _You're lucky; not everyone gets to witness Lord Jashin's work first hand._ She didn't know who Jashin was, or how she would've been lucky to have seen his work. All she could think of was how afraid she'd been. Still was. She'd never faced anyone who had been so battle lusty or homicidal as Hidan.

And there he was, his silhouette just across the fire, silently fighting off the paralytic dose she'd given him. She could feel the slow, steady pulsing of his chakra and hear his soft snores. She hated that sound. Looking past him, she tried to spy Kakuzu in the place he'd been sat when she'd bedded down for the night, but he wasn't there. She felt for his chakra and found no trace of it. _'Where's he gone?'_ She wasn't going to stick around to find out, however, because there would never be another chance like this.

Quietly, Hezā rose to a crouch and searched around in her pouch, pulling out the kunai she'd picked up from the snow the day the Akatsuki had found her. She felt out for Kakuzu's chakra again, and again found nothing. Creeping closer to Hidan, she drew the knife up to her chin. His pale skin glowed in the firelight and he looked almost peaceful, in a strange, dead eyed kinda way. So much so, Hezā nearly second guessed herself. But she grit her teeth, gums aching from the punch, and tightened her grip on the blade; if she didn't kill him, come morning she would have two men on her tail instead of one.

"I wouldn't bother."

She snapped her head up to see Kakuzu step through the treeline, and felt the blood drain from her face.

"You can't kill him." He said as he moved back to his original spot, seemly unfazed by her brazen show of rebellion.

"Try me," she said and lowered the knife to the albino's throat. She was already in the shit, what more could she do to make her situation worse?

"He's immortal."

_'He screwin' with me?' _Her eyes narrowed. "I slit his throat he'll have no blood left by sunrise."

"You can try it," Kakuzu resumed his reclined position against the tree. "But it won't work. And you'll get a one way ticket to Hell for your efforts."

"Already got one'a those…" she muttered.

But he watched her with cool, green eyes. Confident eyes… She wouldn't be escaping tonight. And the realisation was so strong she almost dropped the blade on Hidan's exposed throat in despair. That was it, she was dead.

"The Leader of the Akatsuki paired me with him because, as you may remember, I've killed all my previous partners."

Hezā needed no reminder of the Falls Nin's wroth. The itch where her arm used to be was plenty. Sometimes she would feel the sensation of muscle and sinew bend and stretch, of wiggling long pale fingers and biting nails. Of clutching a friend's hand. It was a sick joke. She reached up and massaged the large knobbly scar below her shoulder. She wanted to cry again. She wanted to scream, to kick, to punch, to run, so much until there was nothing left of this nightmare. Run so hard and so fast into a different life where she had a family. Where she still had her arm and still had her best friend. A life where the Akatsuki didn't exist and Orochimaru the Snake was unheard of.

But instead, she put away her knife, settled back down on her side and waited for sleep or death to come for her. Whichever arrived first.


	5. And way down we go

_05._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_and way down we go_)

"An' then I just asked her if I could come in for some tea an' she went nuts."

"That was the sex pest talking I assume."

"Eh?!"

Laughter echoed as they leapt through the canopy. Breath curling into frozen puffs.

"You know Hotaru can't help himself, Rai-san." Hana said and took a swig from her canteen mid leap. The water filled her mouth, just like it would fill her lungs long before dusk. "High sex drives are hard to control, you know." She threw a cheeky wink to Hotaru who rolled his eyes.

"You should know," he muttered.

She flipped him the bird. And as they passed by a particularly sunny patch, three black butterflies erupted from their positions basking on the leaves, disturbed and unnoticed by the team as they continued on their way.

* * *

"_You must be Hezā-kun."_

_The voice caught the girl unawares as she was walking back to the spare room she'd been shacked up in. Turning, she saw a tall and beautiful woman. A flower was tied up in her deep cobalt hair and reminded her of the paper angel she'd seen upon her arrival in Amegakure._

"_You won't remember me; we only met once when you were little. You reminded me of myself when I was that age," she said, "I too, was an orphan in a cruel world." The way she spoke was so soft and gentle, like a mother. But it had an air of grace to it. "My name is Konan. I work with Pein-sama."_

_Hezā didn't know what to say. "Oh… it's nice t'meet you."_

"_Likewise," said Konan. "I understand you will be partnered with Hidan-san and Kakuzu-san." Hezā nodded. "I'm sure you need no further warning…" Konan's bright ginger eyes flitted to Hezā's shoulder. She politely looked away. "When I first heard of the incident I didn't think you'd make it… but it seems you are more resilient than I gave you credit for. You will need that resilience."_

_Konan bowed her head, a small smile crossing her lips. Hezā didn't think she'd ever seen a person with such etiquette, such elegance, with all the vulnerability of a young girl still hiding beneath the controlled surface of a deadly Shinobi. Almost immediately, Konan was a woman Hezā wanted to be._

"_They may not be the easiest people to work with, but you must do whatever they tell you._ _From now on you will be their Subordinate."_

* * *

The water was freezing as Hezā splashed it across her torn cheek. She flinched, blonde hair bristling at the cold and she leaned forward, trying to get a good look at her face in the water. But this was a river, and she wasn't having much luck. She sucked in a hiss when she poked it, feeling the slight gap in her skin and the raised ridge of inflammation. She was hoping that would go down in a day or two.

'_Kemushi would fix me up, no problem… were she here.'_

Sighing, she cupped her hand and splashed the rest of her face, rubbing her eyes and neck. She ran her hand through her short hair, scrubbing the back of her head for good measure and enjoying the sensation. Cutting her hair had been a good decision. Then she supped some water from her hand and swilled it around before spitting.

"You done preening yet?" Hidan asked from behind her.

Thankfully, Hidan had either forgiven or forgotten what had transpired between them the evening before. In fact, he was just as pleasant as the day she'd met him, which is to say, not at all. Of course, he knew nothing of how she'd been intent on murdering him in the darkest hours of last night. If he did, Hezā was sure she wouldn't be here right now, mission be damned. She got the distinct feeling that the Akatsuki's goals didn't feature much in Hidan's personal decision making.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him standing with his arms folded, Kakuzu behind him, tucking the map away into his cloak. It was morning and they had stopped just a little way downstream of a short waterfall for Kakuzu to check their route, while Heza had taken the opportunity for some personal grooming. But now it seemed both men were intent on moving on.

They set off, the sun steadily warming the air until they could no longer see their breath as it curled past their lips. They spent the next couple of hours following the rivers course as it twisted steeply between rocks and trees, quickly making its way down to lower land where it began to settle and gently meander. Hezā said not a word to either shinobi, and Hidan and Kakuzu kept their conversation between themselves to a minimum, leaving plenty of silence for the birds to fill with their singing. It had turned into a beautiful day by the time they emerged from the trees to a wide, still lake. In the distance, perhaps six miles ahead, the water eventually gave way to more woodland, and beyond that, the mountains separating the Fire and Waterfall countries rose into the sky.

Kakuzu stopped, and calmly looked left and right along the shore. "It will be far faster to cross here," he turned to them, "but be on guard; we will be completely exposed." And with that said, he stepped out onto the water, making his way across to the far, far side. Hidan scoffed and followed, Hezā close behind.

It was warm, boatmen bugs flitting across the smooth surface. Every so often a bird would fly overhead and dive to the water, catching one in its beak before scooping itself back into the air. Fish bigger than Hidan's scythe, with whiskers longer than their bodies swam lazily beneath the surface, Hezā staring at them when they got close enough for her to see. Sunlight bounced off the lake, making them squint to see, and it was something this small that caused Hezā to lose concentration almost halfway into their walk across, and thus losing her chakra control. She fell through the surface like a brick and came up coughing. Hidan and Kakuzu stopped to look, the former rolling his eyes while the girl smiled sheepishly and raised her arm to rest on the water's surface.

But her smile dropped, and silence seemed to descend when she saw three shinobi standing behind her superiors. They had come out of nowhere, two men and a woman. Hidan and Kakuzu sensed the threat immediately and turned on them.

"What do you fuckers want?" Hidan asked.

The woman muttered under her breath about foul language, but the elder looking of the two men took a step forward. "Forgive us for intruding, my name is Atamashi Rai, the captain of this squad. We were just making rounds of our perimeter when we found you and were forced to stop."

"No one ever has to stop, pal," Hidan said, "Ignorance is bliss, you'll live longer, trust me."

The man ignored him. "Every shinobi in Takigakure is under strict orders to apprehend or kill any Missing Nin we come across, providing they are originally from our village," he said, "And it just so happens that your friend there is one of those Missing Nin." The man pointed to Kakuzu on Hidan's right.

Hezā glanced at him and back to the captain.

"We have no quarrel with yourself or the girl," he said, "But he's coming with us."

"You sure its him, Rai-san?" asked the woman.

"Yes Hana." Intent on making his team understand how serious their situation had become, his voice was cold and sharp. "I could recognise that face anywhere."

Hidan looked at Kakuzu. "You and that fucking headdress of yours…"

Sensing danger looming fast, and not feeling confident in water at the best of times, Hezā attempted to climb back up onto the surface. But without a second arm it wasn't easy and she fell back in. Hidan laughed, "You really shouldn't have revealed yourselves, you know," He swung his scythe down from his back and rushed forwards. His vivacity and speed reminding Hezā of their fight the day before. "This just makes it too _easy_!" The blades sliced through Rai and he popped into a cloud of smoke, leaving Hidan dumbstruck.

"Idiot!" Kakuzu hissed, before he was set upon by both Rai and Hana exploding from the water, the pair working together to force him back and away from his partner and subordinate. Hidan turned to go after them, but the two remaining shadow clones kept him at bay.

Hezā felt a shot of panic, unsure what to do. But then instinctively sucked in a breath as a hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her down into the dark.

She struggled wildly, thrashing about, trying to escape the shinobi's grasp and noticing he had a bubble of air surrounding his head as he exchanged a hold on her ankle for one around her neck, squeezing tight. His legs clenched around her waist, locking her in for death. She pulled at his forearm as it curled beneath her jaw, pushed down against his legs and even tried to head-butt him to no avail. Years of little to no training had dulled her as a knife that had been left to rust.

The large bodies of the fish that lived in the lake glided around them, the light of the surface dwindling as they sank deeper, until it looked like nothing but a shimmering mirage. And she didn't know why she did it when it wouldn't help save her, but Hezā reached out to this mirage helplessly as her vision began to darken. She shut down.

And a much sinister darkness awakened.

Up on the surface, Hidan and Kakuzu had fought their way to each other's side in an effort to use their individual abilities together to create their devastating, signature teamwork skills. But in the end, much to Hidan's dismay, there was no need; their opponents weren't as experienced as they had made themselves out to be. By starting with such a deceiving attack, using the environment to their advantage, Rai's team had gained the upper hand. But only for a few brief minutes. By evading and blocking attacks, Kakuzu had learnt all he needed to know about the two shinobi. And that was that their power barely passed for Jōnin level. They were poorly equipped to deal with Kakuzu alone, never mind Hidan too. A poor decision on Rai's part, and one that had come from pride and a thirst to prove himself and his team's capabilities. Back in Takigakure, they were most likely an unreliable team, and as such, were given the more mundane tasks. But that meant all the more glory, were they to return with the head of a missing Nin.

Kakuzu had deduced all this calmly in the midst of battle. And he would never find out for certain that he was absolutely right as he held Hana's head underwater until she stopped writhing.

The sun was still strong when Hidan's scythe put a quick end to Rai himself, and he watched the man float just beneath the surface, blood flowering through the water from a fissure across his chest. He was still alive, just barely. But his time was leaking from him like the blood from his body. Hidan turned to Kakuzu. "Well that was a piece'a piss."

The miser nodded, looking at his partner's stomach and the golf ball sized hole running through it. Rai had not gone down without a good fight it appeared.

"Quit that. It's like you're feeling me up with your eyes."

An explosion of water erupting further down the lake took their attention off each other, and they felt a fine spray rain down on them before seeing what looked like a monster tear apart the third member of Rai's team.

* * *

_Okay so, there are a few songs I've been listening to whilst writing just recently.  
The first one is _Bloodstream by Ed Sheeran_, it is what gave me the inspiration for the title and also something to add to Hezā's Kekkei Genkai. The second is _Do You Feel It? By Chaos Chaos_. It's so soulful, sad and deep and I just feel it gets Hezā completely and the feelings she's going to feel later on in the story.  
The third is _Way Down We Go by Kaleo_, a song I think fits all three of them and their lifestyle rather well._


	6. The first hanging

_06._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_the first hanging_)

_It's a trap._

The first time Hezā had come close to death, Kakuzu had been the cause of it.

_We… were set up._

The second time, he'd prevented it.

She never thought she'd see him again, the man who had changed her life so much. She thought she'd forgotten about him. But those green eyes were hard to let go of, especially when she had stared into them at the moment of the end. Looking into death itself.

And they stared back at her now, through the smoke and settling dust. Bright with bloodlust, they glowed.

'_He's going to kill me.'_

Hezā was on her side, legs hidden in the rubble. They had taken her arm and she was paralyzed by pain and shock. Blood saturated her clothes surrounding the metal socket in her left shoulder and she couldn't feel the tears that trickled from her eyes.

It had been a normal mission. Just a normal relay mission to meet up with the sound five and give them a message from Orochimaru. He'd told them it was too important to send by bird, that they would have to deliver it. And now here they were, all of them dead, bar herself and Ken, the team's captain who was bleeding out behind her. His breathing choked by the blood welling up in his throat.

"It's a trap," Hezā whispered, "We… were set up." That's what Ken had said from behind her before blood filled his mouth, while she couldn't look away from Kakuzu's eyes. He had the head of Irabi, formerly one of the sound five in his massive hand, the body still attached, but limp as wet cloth. The Sound Five was now officially the Sound Four.

Irabi had been the first to attack them, killing Ginku instantly and scattering the rest. Out of the four that had left the Sound, only two of them had remained by the time Kakuzu showed up, his appearance stunning Hezā into immobility. That's when Tayuya made her move, blindsiding and hitting Hezā so hard she passed out for a few seconds. She'd awoken to her mechanical arm missing and the building caving in.

Sunlight shone down on them as the dust finally settled. A cold winter breeze blew through the devastated walls, sending goose bumps shivering across Hezā's skin. And after catching each other's gaze for the longest time, it was Kakuzu who finally broke the spell and left, dragging Irabi's body with him. Hezā was left alone.

She didn't know how long she lay there for, or why she couldn't bring herself to move, but the sun was setting when she unearthed her legs from the rubble and rose. She found Ken's body and knelt beside it. His grey eyes were pale and unfocused, dried blood tracks drawing lines from the corners of his mouth to his neck and ears. She closed his eyes, shivering at how cold his skin was, then began to search his pockets.

"I'm sorry," she said when she found his money pouch and took it. She looked about for the others, but they had been buried by the rubble, unable to be recovered by Hezā alone. She took a deep breath and stumbled out into the night.

The mud track was stiff with frost and her breath shivered in front of her eyes as she made her way towards the lights of a small town in the distance. Her body was cold and her mind was numb with shock. Orochimaru, her own master, had tried to have her killed, and she didn't even know why.

The lights grew brighter and she kept walking and walking, until she found what looked like an Inn. Laughter and loud voices carried through the cracked open window, she crept closer and peeked in. There was a bar with a cluster of men standing around, slapping each other about the shoulders and joking. Smaller groups of people sat at tables filling up the rest of the room and a spread of food was laid out at the far end. Hezā's mouth watered. She turned and gazed at the door for a moment, unsure. Then walked over and opened it.

It was warm inside, and louder than she'd originally thought. Nobody noticed her as she made her way to the bar and positioned herself at a distance from the group of men. She caught the barman's attention and he came over, a strange look on his weathered face.

"Sorry kid, no alcohol for you," he said, rolling his large round shoulders in a shrug of apology.

"I… I don't wan' alcohol."

"Then what, if'ya don' mind me pryin'?"

Hezā swallowed. "I need a place," she said, "a safe place, to stay I mean."

The man cocked an eyebrow. "You wanna rent'a room, huh?"

"No, I need a place to live. I'll work. I'll clean dishes, scrub floors, anythin', you name it."

The man was silent for a moment and leaned forward, taking her in. Covered in dirt and dust, she didn't look like much. He would've guessed her to be a common street urchin if it weren't for the blood and the metal socket glinting in the light from under her clothes. He grimaced, before finally grunting a sigh. "Fine. But I'll work ya hard, kid."

A swell of relief lifted her heart and Hezā smiled and nodded. "For sure!"

The man grunted again. "C'mon, I'll show ya where y'can sleep," he said and gestured for her to follow him. "The names Tao, by the way."

"Hezā." She said, and followed him over to a narrow set of stairs that creaked. Three floors up, Tao stopped and opened a door to a small room with barely a thing in it, including a light. He gestured for her to wait, and he lumbered off, returning with a bundle of blankets.

"Ya gunna hafta make do with the floor for now," he said, passing them to her, "But I'll get a mattress for ya, and some clothes too, I reckon."

"Thank you, very much." Hezā bowed as she'd been taught. Tao nodded and left.

She dumped her blankets, stripped and made a nest in them. All her troubles seeming far away now she was warm and safe. And as she closed her tired eyes for sleep, she decided she would allow Orochimaru this victory, to believe her dead. When she was ready, she would return to retrieve her arm, then rescue Kemushi.

And for weeks afterward she saw those eyes in her dreams. Fierce green and bright. Sometimes she'd even see Kakuzu in the street, look again and find it had been her imagination.

It would be another three years before she saw those eyes again, and she would be sorry she did.

(_do you dare to look him right in the eye?_)

* * *

Posting two chapters at once? I must be feeling ill ;)


	7. Run you down

_07._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_And they will run you down, down 'till you fall_)

"_Avarice, hanging, self-destruction, with avarice counting as self-destruction as much as hanging…  
\- - And I - I make my own home… be my gallows."_

Exactly forty-nine years after Kakuzu fled his village, and sixteen years before the morning Hidan would be betrayed, a new-born was left on the doorstep of a bakery. A single curl of creamy white poking through the cloth wrapped around her head and body.

In the distance a woman could be seen walking away from the cluster of buildings, a small farming community on the borders of a desert where her child would soon grow up in, and one day be taken from.

The tiny thing she'd left on the doorstep of that bakery had been an accident – a big one for something so small. She couldn't bring herself to care a thing for that child, whether she would live or die, or what she might grow up to become or achieve. She couldn't know the girl would grow up amongst the biggest terror threat the shinobi world would ever see, or that she would be trained by one of the three legendary Sanin. She'd never know her daughter would eventually lose a lot more than just her left arm, or that she would die so young.

But then, it didn't matter. Because if she and fate were agreed on one thing, it was that she would never see that burden again. It was someone else's problem now.

And as she continued her trek through the desert dust, back on the bakery step her daughter began to cry.

* * *

Hezā woke to find herself alone.

She was on her back, staring up at thick grey clouds. Her muscles ached, her skin burned as though she'd been in the sun too long, and there was a stabbing pain coming from her curse mark. A fine rain cooled her. When she moved she disturbed the leaves she lay on.

'_How'd I get here?' _She sat up, and after a short moment of dizziness, she stood, using the tree beside her for support. Looking around, she couldn't see the lake and she couldn't feel either of her superiors' chakra signs.

"Hidan-san," she called, expecting a reply. "Kakuzu-san?" Nothing. She began to walk, whispering to herself. "… What the Hell."

She thought she was in a dream. Trapped in this belief until she truly woke to disillusionment. And how sweet would her disappointment be to the Akatsuki. She came to a short rock cliff and dragged her palm across it... "Not a dream."

Was she dead? Had she drowned down there in the dark? Sinking to become food for the scaled giants that slipped through the water. "No." She breathed in deep. Felt her lungs fill and expand. She'd seen Death before, and this wasn't him. She didn't know it of course, but she wouldn't lay eyes on him for a while yet.

'… _I escaped.'_ She was dumbstruck. _'How is that possible?'_ The last thing she remembered was the panic as she let out the breath she'd been holding. She froze… then slowly reached up to touch her curse mark. It felt hard like a tumour and painful to the touch. _'Of course… it's the only way.' _She must've mutated right there underwater. She was amazed, despite the situation she was in; she'd never done that before, didn't even think it possible. But then, she didn't think it possible to escape the Akatsuki either, and yet here she stood, free to find her own way and continue to flee.

"Flee," she spoke the word and heard a flicker of a question there. Did she want to flee? If she did she'd have to move –right now– and find somewhere to disappear fast. She began to walk again, having no idea where she was headed.

As she moved, situations in her head played out of how she could have evaded Hidan and Kakuzu. But none of them lined up. She was fast in her beast form, sure, but she knew Kakuzu to be far faster. Despite his age, that man could disappear and reappear again in the blink of an eye. There was no way she out ran them… though she did run _from_ them, it was how she'd gotten all the way out here. So why hadn't they given chase? Why had they let her go? It was ridiculous to think they'd aborted the mission, and even if they had, they would've killed her. No use in her being alive to blab secrets about the Akatsuki, not that she knew much.

She was at a complete loss, and her unknowing only made her fear burn worse. What were they planning? Was this some sort of game, like cat and mouse? Were they toying with her? It was almost enough to make her lose her mind.

But as she crested the brow of a high hill, the breeze blew back her short blonde bangs and she could see for miles. Not too far away flickered the lights of large settlement and the thought to flee came back to her.

She could hide there. It was big enough to warrant having Shinobi live and work within its walls, she could use that to her advantage, mingle and conceal herself. She could do it. The consequences would be dire were they to find her, but she could do it. She'd always been good at getting work, she wouldn't starve.

Then she ran her hand through her hair. Short hair. Short because she'd cut it off… cut it off because she'd wanted to change.

She chewed her lip.

'_If I run now… what about Kem?'_

Hezā's eyes glazed over for a moment, lost in memory. When she came back to reality, she'd made her choice.

She walked her way down the hill to a small soil indent and sat down, sheltered from the wind. She took a deep breath, nodding to herself, and the fingers on her right hand bent, index and middle staying straight and her chakra flared wildly, like a beacon. Tilting her head back, eyes closed, she waited.

It wasn't long. She felt their chakra before she saw them. And she opened her eyes to see the two Akatsuki standing before her.

She looked at Hidan, then Kakuzu. Sure, Hidan looked pissed off, but he looked like that most of the time. It was Kakuzu she had to watch, though he was pretty hard to read. But the fact she was still breathing told her a lot.

"You are such a fucking pain," Hidan said.

And Hezā hung her 'self' for the second time.

_and way down we go…_

* * *

Another chapter already? Gosh, aren't I spoiling you! Ha!  
Short chapter, 'cause I wanted to focus on Hezā.

Title taken from lyrics to the song _Way Down We Go_ by **Kaleo**.  
The piece below it is a quote I first heard watching the film **Hannibal**. Avarice, hanging and self-destruction… which belongs to who? ;)

Thank you for reading!


	8. There's no remedy for memory

_08._

_Naruto_ © **Masashi Kishimoto**  
_Bloodstream_ © **Hurlstien**

* * *

(_there is no remedy for memory_)

"We were attacked."

Hezā leaned into the table. "A second time?"

"Yes," Kakuzu nodded, then kept silent while a teenage boy placed a steaming white bowl in front of each of them.

They were sat inside a quiet teahouse-come-inn they'd found on the road towards the village Hezā had seen atop the hill. It was an old building that had been well looked after once, but now under new management, it was suffering. There were three other customers; a middle aged couple and an old man sat on his own by the door. A young girl no taller than Hezā's hip was wandering around, getting in the way of the teenage waiter who cursed whenever she got under his feet, before disappearing further into the establishment.

"These were different; they weren't shinobi." He said, pulling down his mask and sipping his Matcha tea. Hezā stared, then caught herself and looked away, pushing her chopsticks around her meal. Curiosity killed the cat… and had also taken her arm. "They appeared right after you ran off."

'_So that's how I got away.'_

"You kill them?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Hidan's voice was brash in the softness of the room as he proceeded to fill his face with rice and sauced beef strips. "Those idiots made a great sacrifice to Jashin-sama."

Hezā watched Kakuzu roll his eyes across the table from her, and her lips twitched with a smile.

"And while _that_ took a further hour out of my time–" Hidan shot him a 'don't even _go_ there' look, "–I noticed they all had tattoos on the backs of their hands, of crescent moons. I don't know who they are, and I don't care, but we can assume there will be more of them. So be alert."

"Crescent moon…" Hezā knew she'd come across this before. But where, she couldn't say. "Crescent… moon."

Kakuzu ignored her and began his meal, while Hidan finished his and began to eye up Hezā's.

A mumble of thunder came in through the open door and the teenage boy went to close it. As he did he noticed the little girl that had been under his feet so much before was sat outside, staring at something. He called her in and she came running. Hezā broke out of her thinking to watch her come inside, a paper pad and pencil clutched to her chest. Then she saw the bruise. Not very big, but enough to be noticeable. Its purple and green stains were clotted around her left eye. She was babbling about a squirrel she'd seen as the boy shut the door and escorted her through to the back of the inn.

She only noticed Hidan's chopsticks too late.

"Hey!" The man had plucked a strip of beef from the bowl she hadn't even started yet. "Haven' y'had enough?"

"Well if I'm eating yours, does it look like I've had enough?"

"It was a big bowl!" She pulled her meal closer to her chest.

"Don't care, you see this," Hidan twisted his body and opened his cloak further, pulling it to the side to reveal a small hole running through him. A souvenir from the fight on the lake, no doubt. It was steadily healing, far faster than any normal human being, blood and puss congealing… Hezā fought back a grimace; it would do her no favours showing weakness with these men. "I need food to heal this, the more food, the faster I'm fixed."

Hezā gestured with her chopsticks. "Then get more."

"I would," he said, "but why buy another when I can just eat yours." He plucked another strip of sauced beef from her bowl and popped it in his mouth before stopping and glaring at Kakuzu, "Holy shit, I'm starting to sound like you."

The ex-falls nin swallowed his food. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well you _are_ a stingy bastard–" Hidan said with a smirk. "–and no one likes a stingy bastard."

"Indeed, they much prefer homicidal maniacs." Kakuzu looked pointedly at his partner.

"Good looking homicidal maniacs always win against ugly stingy bastards."

Outside it began to rain, fat little drops tapping at the widows. Hezā watched Kakuzu's fist tighten across the table, and held back a sigh of relief when it relaxed again a second later. "I'm not fighting with you, Hidan. I know that's what you're after."

Hidan scowled. "You're no fun." He looked down at the girl who was taking the opportunity to stuff as much food as she could down her throat. "What about you?" She gave him a dubious look, mouth full. "C'mon, last time was fun, right?" He was smiling, but Hezā wasn't sure if he knew just how sinister he looked when he did.

She swallowed her food. "You almost killed me."

"Goddamn coward."

"Prefer t'call it bein' smart."

Hidan scoffed loudly. "You, smart? You can't even read!" Hezā yelped in embarrassment and her face burned red as she looked between the two of them. Hidan smirked, "Kakuzu told me." She tried making words to defend herself but it came out garbled. She looked, dismayed, at Kakuzu who rolled his eyes while Hidan snickered. "It got anything to do with those fucked up eyes of yours?" the priest asked, getting a quick glance at the red streaks through her iris' before she looked away.

Hezā sunk into her bowl and picked at her rice. "Theys ain't fucked up… it's a condition," she mumbled, "And no, it's nothin' t'do with that."

"What kind of condition?" Hezā looked up, surprised to hear Kakuzu's voice this time.

"Uh… well it's t'do with my Kekkei Genkai. It's strippin' away the… somethin' in my cells, makin' my hair lighter an' skin paler as I get older."

"Melanin." Kakuzu said.

She looked at him, nodded. "Yeah that. The same is happenin' t'my eyes," she explained. "Eventually theys'll be completely red. That's what Orochimaru told me… s'why he gave me th' Curse Mark. So he could see what kind'a fucked up monster he could make next."

Hidan cocked an eyebrow then leaned closer. "How the Hell do _you_ have a Kekkei Genkai?" Hezā shrugged. "What's your family name?"

She shrugged again. "I was abandoned as a baby."

"Huh, so what happens once your eyes are all red?" he smiled. "You go blind?"

She stared down at her rice. "… I die."

"The fuck?" Hidan shook his head. "That's a shit Kekkei Genkai."

"Stopped you with it, didn'I?"

But before Hidan could retaliate, Kakuzu spoke. "It originates from my old Village."

"The Waterfall?" Hezā's eyes snapped to his. "You seen this before?"

"A long time ago," he nodded, "It's down to your chakra behaving so drastically with your blood, mixing complex concentrations of enzymes, proteins and chemicals like Serotonin, to make venom. Same with your saliva. As part of your Kekkei Genkai your chakra protects you from most poisons and toxins," he said, "but at the same time it's affecting the cells in your body, mutating them. Hence the changes." He took his gaze off her. "I thought that line had died out."

"How come _you_ know so much about it?" Hidan asked.

Kakuzu gave him a blank look. "I read."

The girl perked up. "This mean y'know my last name? D'you know my family?"

The man was silent for a moment. "No, I don't recall it… nor them."

Hidan observed his partner with a curious gaze. Kakuzu caught him and he switched to a scowl, turning it on the girl by his side. "So," he said, "you're gunna die a premature death for no other reason than your eyes have run out." Hezā didn't say anything, preferring instead to watch the raindrops trickle down the nearest window, while Kakuzu was wrapped in his own thoughts. "Have fun with that, I'm gunna catch some Zee's." He stood, pausing briefly to steal the last beef strip from the girl's bowl –which she ignored–, before heading for the stairs.

Their room was on the top floor of the two storey building, and while Hezā would prefer to get to sleep first due to Hidan's snoring habits, she didn't feel the urge to rush off to the one chair and blanket they had in the room. Kakuzu still didn't deem her important enough to get a room with an extra bed. Besides, their conversation had left her sifting through clouds of memories of her time with Orochimaru, times when he would experiment on her, injecting poisons and recording results to further his knowledge of her gift… the puckered dot-scars in the bend of her remaining arm being evidence. She couldn't bring herself to move.

Kakuzu, previously caught up in his own memories, had returned to the present and was looking at Hezā– or rather, the red streaks running through her ice blue eyes. Many long seconds passed, before he too stood to leave. "Don't pick at it." He said, and Hezā blinked out of her thoughts to glance at him. Without realising, she'd been absently picking away at the scabbed over cut on her cheek. She pulled her hand away. "We'll be staying here a while; we have a target to find… Don't stay up too late," he said quietly, and left.

* * *

Suri was up early the next morning. She hurried down the stairs of the inn her mother owned, drawing pad and pencil clutched to her chest, to find the door ajar. That was odd; her mother and brother weren't up yet. Peeking through the gap she looked out on a world of mist, but sat on the front step was a girl wrapped in a thin black cloak. Suri stood at the door watching her, thinking she seemed… sad. The girl was staring out at the mist as it seeped through the trunks of the forest on the other side of the beaten path.

Remembering why she was there, Suri opened the door and wondered over, immediately drawing the attention of the girl and she stopped in her tracks at the striking stare of blue and red. She'd never seen that before, and she'd never been looked at with such a piercing gaze in all her young life.

"H-hello," Suri said, making quick glances out at the forest, looking for the squirrel she'd seen yesterday. The girl didn't say anything, but her gaze softened somewhat, and she turned her head back to stare out at the trees. "My name's Suri, what's yours?" She said and stepped closer.

The girl seemed to completely ignore her, and Suri was starting to feel embarrassed before she finally said something, "Hezā."

Her voice was a little deep for a girl's, but it was clear, not raspy. A pleasant voice. Which surely meant the person it belonged to was pleasant too. "That's a pretty name, wanna know what it means?" Suri asked, hoping to coax this woman into a convocation. She enjoyed talking to new people, they were always so interesting.

"It doesn't mean anything," the girl said, still not looking at her, "it's just a flower."

"Wrong!" Suri giggled. "I mean what it sim-bel-lises?" she said, having difficulty getting the sounds out right. The girl finally looked at her with an expectant gaze. "I read about it once, it means protection and solitude." The woman didn't look thrilled, and turned her gaze back to the forest. "So what you doing out here anyway?"

"Travellin'."

"Oh. Who were those men you were with?"

The woman was quiet for a second. "They's my dads."

"You have _two_ poppas?" Suri was amazed. "Wow, lucky! I only had one poppa." There was a short silence between them, "Where's your momma?"

"Never had one."

"Oh… I wish I didn't have one sometimes," Suri said, and the woman finally looked at her again. She knew she was staring at the bruise.

"Your mother do that to you?"

Suri nodded, cheeks reddening at the sudden attention, before spotting movement to her right. She looked to find the squirrel she'd been waiting for clamber down a tree trunk. "Here he is! Here he is!" She whispered, opening her drawing pad and grabbing her pencil. She looked between the squirrel and her pad a few times, before her gaze rested on the woman sat on her left. "Can you draw?"

Hezā watched the squirrel, her brow furrowed and she nodded. Suri held up the pad and pencil. "Can you draw him for me please? I really want a drawing of him, but I'm no good." And surprisingly enough, the woman consented, taking the tools and beginning to sketch the creature as it sat on its haunches, nibbling away at a nut. All three of them unaware of the green gaze watching from the inn.


End file.
